BMI has confirmed the suspension of its Heathrow to Glasgow service previously reported on in this blog. The service has been pulled because of the increase of domestic passenger charges by BAA at the London airport. The charge is set to rise from £13 to £20.

The seven daily flights will stop on 27th March, to the great disappointment of many business travellers and Scottish MPs who discussed the move and its effect on the Scottish economy recently.

A statement from BMI said: “In light of the imposed increases by BAA, Bmi has launched a complaint under section 41 of the Airports Act 1986 and has asked the CAA to investigate BAA as it believes the airport operator is unreasonably discriminating against domestic passengers and domestic operators from London Heathrow.

It added: “BMI is committed to Scotland and Northern Ireland and regards its UK and Ireland network as part of its core business and will continue to focus on strongholds like Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Belfast City, each operating six times a day, and to Dublin operating five times a day.”

The airline admitted the 138 Bmi staff at Glasgow airport are at risk of redundancy.